The following public lecture was held at the National Library of Armenia — The Road to Nakhijevan, or How I Began to Study Nakhijevan Historical and Cultural Heritage. A lecture was given by Argam Ayvazyan, historian, Armenian scholar, Honored Cultural Worker of the Republic of Armenia.  
Guests listened with interest to Argam Ayvazyan’s lecture, which lasted about two hours. Among other things, he spoke about numerous cases of blackmail and persecution after holding such events. 

 

Ayvazyan presented about 60 original books dedicated to the cultural and material heritage of Nakhichevan. He also showed dozens of photographs from his unique photo archive, taken over the years of research work in the Armenian settlements of Nakhichevan. While studying in Nakhichevan in 1964-1987, Ayvazyan personally photographed 89 active monasteries and churches that no longer exist today. He counted and documented 5,840 elaborately decorated khachkars and more than 22,000 destroyed tombstones.